Movie Review: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

The Pevensie siblings return to Narnia, where they are, once again, enlisted to help ward off an evil king and restore the throne to Prince Caspian, the rightful heir.

GENRE: Children's adventure fantasy

RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2008

RUNNING TIME: 2 hours and 27 minutes

VIOLENCE FACTOR: There is a lot of epic-battle action, most of it hand-to-hand combat, especially swordplay. But it is not bloody or graphic — just plentiful.

RACY? Not in the least

CRITIQUE:
Lions and witches and wardrobes, oh, my. Oh, wait, no wardrobe this time.

It was an armoire that provided the portal for the four Pevensie siblings — Brits Peter, Lucy, Susan, and Edmond — to discover a magical passageway that allowed them entrance to an enchanted kingdom in the epic fantasy, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which snared three Oscar nominations and won for Best Makeup.

This time it's a tube station in Trafalgar Square.

The original was based on the first (1950) in a series of seven books by C.S. Lewis, an Oxford contemporary of The Lord of the Rings' J.R.R. Tolkien. The sequel arrives on our shores three years later, but the adventure, based on the second book in the series, is actually set 13 centuries later.

The Pevensie quartet find themselves back in the same parallel universe, that wonderland full of talking animals and mythical creatures. And they are enlisted this time, to help combat the evil King Miraz, who threatens to render the land's sundry creatures extinct, and stands between his nephew, Prince Caspian, the exiled heir, and his rightful throne.

There is, again, magic and mystery and menace and meaning. But big-screen installment number two is darker, grittier, and more dramatic than its predecessor, with more battle action and more computer-generated creatures.

"More" is thus, the operative word here. But bigger doesn't mean better here. It means essentially the same level of quality. So if your grandchildren enjoyed the first one, chances are they'll feel the same here, and get more out of it if they've seen its predecessor.

The second Narnia adventure isn't as gracefully wondrous as it thinks it is, but it succeeds as spectacle and as a stately escapist chronicle for kids.

GP Rating System:
Three Grands = Bravo, don't miss it.
Two Grands = Good enough, don't dismiss it.
One Grand = Okay, even if we dis it.